| This page is home to resources of all kinds relating to my favorite jazz drummer, Leon Parker. Besides his incomparable skills on the kit, what I like about Parker is his musical vision. Simply put, he combines musical traditions--jazz, African, Latin, and others--with innovation. So many of today's jazz musicians fall into one of two categories. They're either "neotraditionalists," such as Wynton Marsalis, who would like nothing more than to turn back the clock to the "golden years" of jazz of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. Or, they are in the less well-known population of the "avant-garde," whose music is innovative and perhaps interesting, but its abandonment of traditional musical forms makes it inaccessible noise to the ears of most people. To me, Leon Parker combines the best of both worlds: his music has a fresh, interesting sound, but it's rooted in rhythmic grooves that make it accessible: it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. |